Key takeaways from Day 1 of 2023 NCAA Baseball Regionals

The NCAA Baseball Regionals kicked off the tournament with 32 games on Friday and featured a couple of massive upsets to set up the drama early.

Throughout the country Friday, the crack of bats, mitts smacking and hands slapping on the padding of the bench echoed throughout the sport.

The offense became a top priority for many clubs, with 17 teams hitting the double-digit mark, including eight regional-site hosts. Two Top 16 team’s seasons are on the line, another has an unused bullpen and many unranked teams proved they’re viable options for escaping their regions.

Here are some of the most notable performances through Friday’s packed slate of the NCAA Baseball Regionals.

Key takeaways from Day 1 of 2023 NCAA Baseball Regionals

LSU’s ace goes the distance

Tulane skipper Jay Uhlman wasn’t sure who the Tigers were going to send out for the opening-game start. He also wasn’t expecting a 124-pitch outing from the Tigers’ ace, but he took it as a sign of respect for keeping LSU’s Paul Skenes out to finish the complete game.

The Tigers rolled over the 19-40 Green Wave 7-2 and did get to save the bullpen for at least one day. However, with the volume pitching, an argument can be made that his regional is probably over.

Skener has been a force all season, posting an impressive 1.90 ERA and a dominant 179 strikeouts on the season. He stayed at his peak Friday, striking out 12 and just one inning where he gave up runs.

Questions arise as to whether it was the right move to keep him in. However, LSU head coach Jay Johnson had no hesitation in backing up his All-American.

Indiana State avoids opening day nightmare.

The Sycamores had a memorable day, hosting a regional for the first time in program history. However, it nearly became a disaster.

Wright State played seven exceptional innings, holding Indiana State to just three runs. Pitcher Sebastian Gongora contained a Sycamore team that had scored eight or more runs eight times in May alone.

A solo shot in the sixth and two small ball plays (sacrifice fly and single) gave the Sycamores their lead and held on to avoid running into the losers bracket early.

They are eyeing a matchup with Iowa at 5 p.m. CST.

Sun Belt Conference absorbs a rude awakening on Day 1.

The league sent four teams to the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight season, with Southern Miss, Louisiana, Troy and hosting Coastal Carolina making it in.

It was a bleak day overall as they scraped through a 1-3 day.

Southern Miss fell in extras to third-seeded Samford and Louisiana had a tough time getting the bats going against Texas in a 4-2 loss.

The first close game came with a Troy 11-10 thrilling win over Boston College in the Charleston regional.

Key defensive plays in the ninth propelled the Trojans and their second Power 5 win of the season.

No.10 Coastal Carolina seemed to be in control through six against Rider handling the Bronc’s lineup and building a 5-0 lead. Even no-hitting them at one point. The advantage rapidly evaporated, giving up nine runs in the seventh.

Although the Chanticleers staged a comeback and forced extra innings, Rider added two runs in the 10th.

A diving catch in center field from Rider’s Brendan O’Donnell preserved a near 80-pitch outing from the team’s closer and the program’s first NCAA Tournament win since 1987.

The 1-4 upset isn’t quite as prominent in college baseball, with Coastal not eliminated and forced into a win-or-go-home situation. However, it puts the Sun Belt’s regular-season champion in a teetering spot and a Top 10 ballclub on the verge of elimination.

Quakers Squeeze past Auburn

Late in the night, Pennsylvania had to host Auburn on the ropes and needed some late-game offense to make the upset a possibility.

So they chose to squeeze bunt on back-to-back plate appearances. And it worked.

The Quakers swept past the Ivy League tournament and are eyeing third-seeded Samford on the winners side of the Auburn region.

The SEC’s 10 teams fared well on the first day of the tournament, as a whole, going 9-1 on Friday.

Saturday College Baseball Regionals matchups to look forward too

No.9 Miami (41-17) vs. Texas (39-20): 5 p.m. CST

No.7 Virginia (46-12) vs. East Carolina (46-17) 5 p.m. CST

No.2 Florida (45-14) vs. Texas Tech (40-21) 5 p.m. CST

Dallas Baptist (45-15) vs. Sam Houston (38-23) 2 p.m. CST

No. 5 LSU (44-15) vs. Oregon State (40-18) 8 p.m. CST